British Direct Ruler Shaun Woodward has warned that efforts to reach a
deal on policing and justice in the north of Ireland are “on the edge”.

After nine days of negotiations, Woodward told British MPs at the
Westminster parliament that with “good political will” there could
still be a “reasonable” agreement.

But he warned that failure to achieve agreement would put “much of the
achievements of the peace process at risk”.

No further talks have been scheduled between the Democratic Unionist
Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein on Wednesday, amid mounting speculation that
the outcome of the negotiations will depend on the next meeting of the
DUP’s Belfast Assembly team at Stormont.

Sinn Fein said last night it remains confident a deal can be done, and
that the party’s assembly party had been briefed by its negotiating
team.

“Whatever is going on in the DUP, is a matter for the DUP,” said South
Belfast Assemblyman Alex Maskey.

Mr Maskey admitted that there were some outstanding issues to be
decided but nothing to block a deal.

“There are not that many, they are not that major, we believe that we
can do that quickly. We are only concerned about the leadership given
by the DUP in reaching agreement with ourselves,” he said.

“We are satisfied that a deal can be concluded, the deal needs to be
concluded quite quickly and our focus is entirely on making sure the
good work and progress that has been made in recent days can be built
upon.”

He denied Sinn Fein was under any pressure from any quarter.

“Suffice to say that we fully understand that the people we all
represent are very anxious that these institutions are stable, that
they operate on the basis that everybody is an equal citizen and we do
in here what we were elected to do.”

He added: “Our focus is making sure we can get a deal. We would not be
talking at Hillsborough or anywhere else if we didn’t believe that
there was a prospect of getting a positive outcome.

“We believe there is a prospect of getting a deal, we are there to get
that.”

UNIONISM IN FLUX

Meanwhile, amid continuing reports of an internal crisis affecting the
DUP, Ulster Unionist Party leader Reg Empey has ruled out a merger
between the two parties.

Talks on forming a pan-unionist front involving the British
Conservatives, the DUP and the Ulster Unionists began last year at the
behest of the anti-Catholic Order Order. The masonic-style talks
culminated in high level discussions at Hatfield House outside London
last month before they were exposed at a delicate point in the peace
process.

Following an angry reaction by some Tories as well as members of his own
party, Empey has now rowed back on a merger with the DUP but allowed the
possibility of greater co-operation.

Empey said no deal had been made and said the UUP were 100% committed to
their existing link with the Conservatives under the UCUNF banner
(Unionists and Conservative United/New Force)

An Ulster Unionist Executive meeting on Tuesday night rejected what were
described as “bogus unionist unity talks”. It was also agreed to select
joint Westminster candidates with the Tories as soon as possible.

Last month, two former Conservative candidates, both Catholics, who may
have contested the general election as part of the UUP/Tory pact
withdrew their nominations partly because of a possible deal between the
Ulster Unionists and DUP. Onf of those who withdrew their nominations,
Peter McCann, last night compared the DUP with the neo-fascist BNP
(British National Party).

However, the prospect of a significant realignment within unionism
remains a strong possibility. The DUP is suffering considerable internal
diffif!culty over its ongoing talks with Sinn Fein, with some suggesting
that the party could split if a deal is made on the implementation of
the 2006 St Andrews Agreement.

Fourteen DUP Assembly members are understood to have opposed an outline
agreement proposed by scandal-hit party leader Peter Robinson on Monday
-- some of these could feasibly consider defection to the extreme
‘Traditional Unionist Voice’ party led by Jim Allister.

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said reports of ructions within his party
were merely “speculation and innuendo” generated by “some sections of
the media”.

BOMB

A loud explosion destroyed perimeter fencing at Oldpark base in north
Belfast around 2am last night. A numnber of homes were evacuated in the
area today by British Army bomb teams. No group has yet claimed the
attack, which caused no injuries, although breakaway IRA groups are
understood to be responsible.

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